Portforward

[Resl]

Hey
I have an ASUS RT-AC88U router with static ip
I can't portforward anything, if I look at canyouseeme it shows my poblic ip and when I test some ports on my pc, it says they are closed.
I'm running on Merlins firmware RT-AC88U_384.9_0 and have also tried firmware RT-AC88U_384.8_2 with same result, no ports is open
My ISP's fiberbox is in Bridgemode.
I really don't know what I can do so it will forward some ports, like 8080 and other ports so I can access my computer outside LAN

Btw, sorry my poor English, but I hope you understand my question

/Resl

 

[roadwrenchtech]

Is your asus wan IP address the wan address from your ISP or is it from your ISP boxes subnet? There have been times that I knew a port was forwarded and the device was reachable from wan but port scans did not show it. I've found some ISP provided modem/routers don't truely expose your router to the wan. Have you assigned a reserved static ip to the local device in the router prior to setting up port forward to it?

As a side note, if accessing your home network from outside it is your end goal, it would be better to run a openvpn server than to expose ports to the wan.

 

[Resl]

Yes my wan-ip is from my ISP. When I go to canyouseme, the site is also showing my wan-ip

 

[martinr]

Yes my wan-ip is from my ISP. When I go to canyouseme, the site is also showing my wan-ip

You really should take note of Roadwrenchtech’s final sentence: “As a side note, if accessing your home network from outside it is your end goal, it would be better to run a openvpn server than to expose ports to the wan.” You are really asking for trouble, and especially a port number such as 8080. Set up OpenVPN server, it’s quick and simple and doesn’t take any real specialist knowledge.

 

[Resl]

Okay Martinr
You're right, but I don't know how to setup openvpn on my router, and I don't know how to remote access my computer/server

 

[martinr]

We don’t have a tutorial as far as I know. But if you don’t have a fixed public IP address then you need a DDNS address so that whatever IP address your ISP gives you, it always translates back to your router no matter how often the IP address changes. The Asus DDNS service works well for me: see the WAN page DDNS tab. Once you have your unique DDNS address you can set up OpenVPN.

You can then set up OpenVPN Server. Go to Server 1 on the General page. You can set “Client will use vpn to access” to both to start with and hit Apply. Above that setting, go to VPN Details and select Advanced and turn the server On. You then change only what’s necessary as it’s been set up to practically work straightaway.
My own settings are:

1. Server port 1194 (default) - I mention this because I really should get round to changing it to an obscure port number. If you feel confident, now’s a good time to do that, if you want. Everyone knows 1194 is the OpenVPN port - just an extra bit of security.

2. Username/password authentication YES

3. Username/password auth only NO

2 & 3 on my settings mean that I have public-private key encryption AND I have username and passwords. If you elect to copy this you must remember to go back to the bottom of the General page and put those usernames and passwords in. I have different ones for each device.

4. Advertise DNS to clients YES. I can’t remember if that’s the default setting. I think it is.

And that’s it. I’m fairly sure I didn’t change anything else. Hit Apply.

Go back to the General page and don’t forget to add your usernames and passwords. Hit Apply.

Then Export OpenVPN config file. (You can do this before you add the usernames and passwords; however, there are some settings - that port number would be one - that, if you alter, you must export a new config file. Usernames and passwords isn’t one, though.)

Now that .ovpn config file you exported has to be imported into the OpenVPN client on your laptop/iPad/iPhone........ . I use OpenVPN Connect iOS on my Apples devices. I think it’s Tunnelblick on Mac and on Windows I use OpenVPN GUI (“A Windows GUI for OpenVPN”)

One surprise for me: I can’t see where you add your DDNS address. I think there used to be a place, so I assume if you’ve filled in the DDNS details on the WAN page it takes them, and if not it assumes you have a fixed IP address.

Don’t ask “what about all the keys and certificates; where do I find them”: it’s all done by magic for you when you export that .ovpn config file.

Setting up really has been made as easy as possible.

And if you are posting with questions about port forwarding, setting up OpenVPN should be a walk in the park for you.

(There’s possibly something I’ve taken for granted and forgot to mention.)

 

[roadwrenchtech]

Teamviewer will also get you access to your pc and network remotely and without forwarding ports.

 

[Jack Yaz]

Teamviewer will also get you access to your pc and network remotely and without forwarding ports.

Or RealVNC!

 

[Resl]

Thanks a lot for all the answers. Never thought of Teamviewer/RealVNC
Teamviewer is good enough for me

 

[Zonkd]

Or RealVNC!

Looks like their VNC Connect cloud service requires a paid subscription otherwise to get access for free you need to do port forwarding to the VNC host.

 

[Jack Yaz]

Looks like their VNC Connect cloud service requires a paid subscription otherwise to get access for free you need to do port forwarding to the VNC host.

Not at all - Home is free and cloud only
https://www.realvnc.com/en/connect/home/

 

[L&LD]

RealVNC, Teamviewer and all other 'free' cloud-based VPN services can't be trusted, IMO.

OpenVPN is much more secure because we control it much more of it, end to end.

 

[Jack Yaz]

RealVNC, Teamviewer and all other 'free' cloud-based VPN services can't be trusted, IMO.

OpenVPN is much more secure because we control it much more of it, end to end.

The cloud offering of RealVNC Home is identical to the paid version. Cloud is also a bit misleading, the "cloud" is only used to get through NAT, its a peer to peer connection after that. It's also end to end encrypted

Plus just take a look in the Expert settings, there's a setting for everything!

For the record i used to use Teamviewer, until that nasty DNS hijack a few years back

 

[L&LD]

The cloud offering of RealVNC Home is identical to the paid version. Cloud is also a bit misleading, the "cloud" is only used to get through NAT, its a peer to peer connection after that. It's also end to end encrypted

Plus just take a look in the Expert settings, there's a setting for everything!

For the record i used to use Teamviewer, until that nasty DNS hijack a few years back

The cloud getting through NAT is what I'm worried about.

 

[58chev]

Okay Martinr
You're right, but I don't know how to setup openvpn on my router, and I don't know how to remote access my computer/server

@martinr

I have used this VPN Primer for NOOBS to set up openVPN. Lots of great info on getting VPN up and running.

I have always been told to "Never" forward any ports.

 

[noworries]

"...
One surprise for me: I can’t see where you add your DDNS address [to the VPN configuration]. I think there used to be a place, so I assume if you’ve filled in the DDNS details on the WAN page it takes them, and if not it assumes you have a fixed IP address.
..."

I had to edit the ovpn file and replace the ISP-provided IP address with my DDNS name. Maybe a bug, but the name didn't get populated in ovpn